GOD’S WORD

OCTOBER 03 27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER

Some Pharisees question Jesus about divorce. They probably know his position already but want to show him up as opposing Jewish law, which allowed for divorce. If you read Deuteronomy 24:1-4, you will notice that Jewish law only permits a man to divorce his wife. It doesn’t permit a wife to divorce her husband. The law regulates divorce, but doesn’t state explicitly what the grounds for divorce actually are. It makes a vague reference to the man finding something “objectionable” about his wife. So it was that Jewish teachers argued over the precise grounds for a divorce.

Jesus is ready for the Pharisees. He asks them what Moses “commanded.” They reply that Moses “allowed” for divorce. So Jesus gets the Pharisees to admit that divorce was allowed by Moses, but not commanded by him. In simple terms, Moses had accepted that divorce was a fact of life and then regulated it to protect the woman’s rights. For Jesus, divorce is a concession that Moses tolerated due to the man’s “hardness of heart.” But the Kingdom of God is opposed to any hardness of heart.

Jesus then offers his teaching based on the original will of the Creator as found in Genesis. For Jesus, the law of Moses did nothing more than minimise the harm done to the wife in a hard-hearted process biased in favour of the husband. Against this, Jesus understands the marriage relationship as an indivisible relationship willed by God from the dawn of creation.

Later on, back in the house, he offers a private teaching to the disciples. He tells them that divorce and remarriage violate the commandment against adultery. Notice that he refers also to a situation where a woman divorces her husband. This could not happen under the Jewish law, but could under Roman law, which operated in Mark’s day. This is Mark’s way of taking Jesus’ teaching and applying it to the changed context of the Christian community 40 years later.

Jesus’ teaching remains as demanding and countercultural today as it was in his own time. But in giving it, Jesus is showing that everything he has been teaching his disciples about the cross, service and discipleship is not just theoretical, but something that is required in one of the most fundamental of human relationships.

Today’s Readings

Gen 2:18-24; Ps 127; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-16

45

OCTOBER 10 28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

PUTTING GOD FIRST

A man approaches Jesus, and asks him what he needs to do “to inherit eternal life.” It’s the wrong question. The man believes he has to do something to enter God’s Kingdom and that Jesus will tell him what this is. Jesus doesn’t answer his question, but addresses it at a much deeper level. He tries to get the man to move away from thinking he has to do something to gain the Kingdom and to focus instead on God’s generosity.

Jesus lists some of the commandments. Notice that they are all social commandments which deal with a person’s relationship with the neighbour. They are commandments the rich might be tempted to ignore. While the man has kept them all since his youth, he now wants to do something more. Mark tells us that, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” Jesus doesn’t love him because he has kept the commandments. Rather Jesus loves him with a Godly love because he is about to call him into a more intimate relationship with God.

Jesus invites the man to go further. He calls on him to sell all he owns, give the money to the poor and follow him. Jesus invites him to let go of false security (his wealth) and trust himself to God’s total generosity. It’s an invitation to move beyond the Jewish law, with its emphasis on fulfilling commandments, to a life centred on relationship with Jesus. But the man is trapped by his wealth and he knows it. He cannot let it go, so he goes away “grieving.” Ensnared by his wealth, he lacks the freedom to choose Jesus and the Kingdom.

Jesus lets him go because he doesn’t coerce people into discipleship. Instead, he uses the event to point out that wealth creates huge difficulties to entering God’s Kingdom. The disciples are “perplexed” when they hear these words. They were brought up to believe that wealth was a sign of God’s favour. Now Jesus tells them it is an obstacle to God.

Then he astounds them with his highly amusing image. A camel will get through the eye of a needle more easily than a wealthy person can enter heaven! The disciples can only conclude that salvation is impossible. This allows Jesus to make his fundamental point. When the Kingdom of God is looked at from a human perspective, the whole thing seems impossible. But nothing is impossible for God, since God will give to those who wish to enter the Kingdom everything that they need.

Peter reminds Jesus that the disciples have left everything to follow him. Jesus lists what they have left behind and then what they will receive back a hundredfold. Look carefully at the two lists. The word “father” occurs in the first list. It doesn’t occur in the second. As Jesus’ disciples, they now have a single Father: God. Notice too that Jesus adds “persecutions” to the second list. This would have struck a chord with Mark’s original readers who were suffering terrible persecution as followers of Jesus.

Today’s Readings

Ws 7:7-11; Ps 89; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10:17-30

OCTOBER 17

29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

SERVANT LEADER

Today’s Gospel ends with one of the most important statements in the whole of Mark. Pay particular attention to verse 10:45. Jesus offers himself as an example of how leadership must be exercised. He has come not to be served but to serve and he will do this most explicitly by giving “his life as a ransom for many.” The Greek word for “ransom” means the price paid to free those held unjustly against their will (slaves, prisoners of war, or kidnapped people). Jesus will free people ensnared by evil through his death.

He is not the Messiah of conventional Jewish expectation. He is God’s Suffering Messiah. Those who wish to be his disciples need to learn this in order to follow him.

Today’s Readings

Is 53:10-11; Ps 32; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45

OCTOBER 24 30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

LET ME SEE AGAIN

Bartimaeus is determined to recover the gift of sight. The blind beggar has heard about Jesus and is desperate to meet him. So when he finds out the route along which Jesus will be leaving town, he positions himself strategically by the side of the road. This is his chance to meet Jesus. He knows he may never get it again.

As Jesus passes along, Bartimaeus grabs his opportunity. He cries out as loud as he can, “Son of David, have pity on me.” People tell him to keep quiet, but he shouts all the louder. And Jesus hears his prayer. He tells the bystanders to bring the man to him. When Jesus asks him: “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus answers, “To see again.” Jesus compliments him on his great faith that has saved him, and restores his sight. And Bartimaeus follows him along the road.

The wonderful thing about Bartimaeus is his faith in Jesus. He believes in Jesus’ power to heal him. He has an absolute, total trust in Jesus. The ironic thing is that even though he is blind, Bartimaeus is able to see Jesus for who he really is. He has a deeper faith than the disciples and others who have two good eyes. The one apparently blind “sees” more than those claiming sight.

We celebrate World Mission Sunday 2021 with the following theme: “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Bartimaeus witnessed to Jesus. Like him, we also are called to be missionaries of the Gospel in our time and place.

Today’s Readings

OCTOBER 31 31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

ONLY LOVE

Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem is over and in today’s Gospel he finds himself in a debate with a scribe. Previous controversies between Jesus and the Jewish scribes were bitter. But this one is friendly. Since the Jewish law had 613 different commandments, the scribe wants Jesus’ opinion on which is the greatest. He doesn’t quite answer the scribe’s question, but quotes from the Jewish scriptures. He identifies the “first” commandment as the one to love God (Deuteronomy 6:4b-5) and the “second” as the commandment to love the neighbour (Leviticus 19:18). When Jesus quotes Deuteronomy, he is referring to the great Jewish prayer known as the Shem‘a Yisra’el or 'Hear O Israel'. It is such a fundamental prayer that Jewish people recited it daily, in the morning and in the evening. In quoting this prayer Jesus declares that love of God is an absolute religious value because God first loved all people and the only response people can make to that fact is to love God. This was a fundamental value for Jewish people of the first century AD and now Jesus establishes it as an essential value for his disciples.

Love of neighbour (as oneself) implies healthy self-esteem and self-valuing. By placing this commandment alongside that of loving God, Jesus makes love of the neighbour into another way in which God is loved.

The scribe reacts positively to Jesus’ answer, welcomes it and adds that both these commandments are “much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In saying this, the scribe recognises that Jesus now replaces the entire Jewish law, along with the Temple and is rituals. It is because the scribe is able to recognise what Jesus is doing that Jesus declares him to be “not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus is making an important point. Jewish people are not excluded from God’s kingdom. Along with the Gentiles, they too are called to hear the Word of God and accept it. However, Mark doesn’t tell us whether the scribe became a disciple or not. At the end of the encounter his critics no longer challenge Jesus’ authority. Some will return later in an effort to do away with him, but they will be ultimately defeated by his resurrection.

Today’s Readings

SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 6 ACROSS: 1. Scrimp, 5. Relish, 10. Raccoon, 11. Borscht, 12. Evil, 13. Jacob, 15. Luke, 17. Shy, 19. Toting, 21. Racism, 22. Lourdes, 23. Soiled, 25. Xanadu, 28. ATM, 30. Inca, 31. Dryad, 32. Coup, 35. Tunisia, 36. Auditor, 37. Medusa, 38. Armies. DOWN: 2. Cyclist, 3. Icon, 4. Pandas, 5. Rob Roy, 6. Lore, 7. Succubi, 8. Priest, 9. Stream, 14. Charity, 16. Inlet, 18. Masai, 20. God, 21. Rex, 23. Saints, 24. Incense, 26. Apostle, 27. Uppers, 28. Armada, 29. Masada, 33. Esau, 34. Adam. Winner of Crossword No. 6 Ali Bracken, Bray, Co. Wicklow.

ACROSS

1. The study of human values and moral conduct. (6) 5. Spicy Japanese condiment. (6) 10. A person who walks in the countryside for pleasure. (7) 11. Day of rest and religious observance. (7) 12. The Bard's river. (4) 13. Once an angel, now joined with Satan. (5) 15. The longer of the two bones in the human forearm. (4) 17. The most common family name in Korea, (3) 19. One who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their ideals. (6) 21. Put money or time into something with an expectation of a return. (6) 22. The state of being married. (7) 23. The sheen on furniture produced by age and polishing. (6) 25. Very happy. (6) 28. Stop living. (3) 30. Members of a religious community of women. (4) 31. A Roman father ministering in the Army. (5) 32. A large, thick, flat piece of stone. (4) 35. Cause someone to get the wrong impression. (7) 36. Ancient document copiers. (7) 37. Totally bewilder or perplex. (6) 38. Items intended to attract and deceive. (6)

DOWN

2. Revolving drum raffle at fetes and fairs. (7) 3. Spend time doing nothing. (4) 4. Utter a high-pitched piercing sound or terror or excitement. (6) 5. Book and talent of Solomon. (6) 6. Cries noisily, making convulsive gasps. (4) 7. The language of raised dots. (7) 8. An artificial and inferior substitution or imitation/ (6) 9. Crosspiece forming a seat for a rower. (6) 14. Lost temporarily. (7) 16. Population centres. (5) 18. Joint between the foot and the leg. (5) 20. It can be black, green, white or oolong. (3) 21. The solid form of water. (3) 23. Hat, canal and country. (6) 24. Country bordered by Algeria and Libya. (7) 26. Double chest of drawers for a lanky youth. (7) 27. Reduce something in quality or character. (6) 28. Take your time, tarry. (6) 29. Rubbed out. (6) 33. Turn over the pages of a book quickly and casually. (4) 34. Short aquatic reptile. (4)

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